United States America v. Edwin Affron

BROWNING, Circuit Judge: Defendant, a ministry student, went to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California, on December 18, 1967, to
"lend * * * moral support" to demonstrators protesting the Selective Service System and this country's participation in the
Vietnam conflict. In the course of the demonstration, defendant kicked Richard M. St.Germain, a deputy marshal of the United
States, who, with another federal officer, was engaged in subduing and arresting a demonstrator. Defendant was charged with
a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111. 1 He was convicted, and appealed. We have concluded that several errors and defects in
the proceedings, considered cumulatively, may have affected defendant's substantial rights. We therefore reverse and remand
for a new trial.